ERASMUS student wins top prize

Nottingham student Christopher Jackson has won the prestigious UK Erasmus Student Prize for 2005. The 22-year-old won the £1000 prize from the exchange programme for his essay and presentation on the theme of ‘My Erasmus experience – a celebration of Europe.’ It was the first ever unanimous decision by the jury.

The third-year physicist is currently spending a second year at the Institut National des Sciences Appliquées (INSA) in Toulouse, before returning to finish his studies at Nottingham in September 2006. In his essay, he explained that studying abroad allowed him to study a broad range of subjects such as economics, Spanish and higher mathematics.

He added: “My Erasmus experience has changed me so profoundly that more than a year after arriving in France I am still here, continuing my studies at my host institution. My motivation for staying is that studying abroad is such a fulfilling and enlightening experience, full of daily encounters with new cultures and customs, that I didn’t want to leave.”

Jackson was awarded the prize by Erasmus, which stands for ‘European Community Action Scheme for the Mobility of University Students’. Law student Katy Ayres, currently studying law at the University of Nottingham and the University of Utrecht, was also shortlisted as a finalist for the prize.